Notes from the DASH Frontier

So far, what I like best as a newly minted master food volunteer is helping people who are motivated to change for the better.

Over the last couple months, VCE agent Katie Strong, with me as her trusty sidekick, led a four-session series on the DASH Eating Plan at an area headquarters office.

The participants – usually 15 or so – had multiple reasons for being there. A few had already made positive changes and were looking for new ideas and information to tweak their already good practices. Some had had a medical wakeup call – change now or pay a steep price later. And then there were the OMG moments: One mom wanted to help her daughter, a 110-pound eight-year-old. Another stated that her husband had died of a heart attack two years ago. Her three-year-old son, she reasoned, had his dad’s genes, and she was determined to do what she could to spare him a similar fate. As MFVs, we can help.

The four sessions covered practical aspects of the DASH Eating Plan:

Session 1 – DASH overview; meal planning

Session 2 – Taming salt cravings; shopping and cooking

Session 3 – Lowering calories; dining out

Session 4 – Physical activity; health indicators

Each week armed with new-found knowledge, most participants practiced more of what’s healthy and less of what isn’t. They shared successes, challenges and aha moments:

Successes:

-          Lost weight

-          Felt better

-          Tried new foods

-          Introduced more nutritious foods to their daily diet

Challenges

-          Dining out – Few truly healthy choices are offered. Even the healthier options may be loaded with sodium or other unwanted ingredients. (Sometimes it’s best to share a not-so-great choice to lessen its impact.)

-          Schedule, travel, or power outages compromised success. (Be prepared; keep a supply of nonperishable snacks on hand – unsalted nuts, dried fruits, and juice, for example.)

Aha Moments

-          Most processed foods contain high levels of sodium – read labels, eat fresh foods, or make your own.

-          The best approach to exercise is to vary activity for aerobic, strengthening, and flexibility benefits.

We have a couple resources that may be helpful for people who want to try the DASH Eating Plan – low-sodium recipe book reviews and a table that summarizes what we should have more and less of.